News Brief

02/02/11

Chiefs Author Letter to Congress Calling for ESEA Reauthorization

Chief State School Officers from across the nation wrote to Congress about the pending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and what needs to be done to reinvent ESEA and address several shortcomings in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). CCSSO welcomes the President’s State of the Union call for Congress to reauthorize ESEA in a manner that supports state-led reform, and we look forward to working with the Congress to craft such a law. CCSSO views this as an important moment that presents real opportunities for progress.

The letter makes several key points:

1. Chiefs remain committed to leading education reforms, as demonstrated by the state-led development and adoption of college- and career-ready standards, current development of dramatically improved assessments aligned with those standards, etc.;
2. Chiefs call on Congress and the Administration to focus on a bipartisan effort to re-envision and reauthorize ESEA in 2011 to support these state reforms and innovations, consistent with CCSSO's ESEA Policy Statement; and
3. If, despite all efforts, ESEA reauthorization is delayed, chiefs intend to exercise the authority expressly granted by Congress to states in NCLB to develop and propose new, innovative policy models in terms of accountability and other areas that move beyond NCLB, and we urge the Administration and Congress to encourage and support this strategy - so that current law does not become a further barrier to innovation and achievement.